The Botanical Wonder
by Tinoka
Summary: A short story about Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu and an alien plant. SLASH!


**The Botanical Wonder**

**Disclaimer:** Anything you recognise is not mine.  
**Summary:** A short story about Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu and an alien plant. Also, my first Chekov/Sulu fic. And I can´t write accents, so I don´t :(

The inhabitants of Zantal II were amazingly friendly people.

They also loved giving gifts and growing plants. And because according to their custom every freshly married couple was given a houseplant, when they learned Captain Sulu and First Officer Chekov were in fact newlyweds, the diplomatic mission ended with a new pot sitting on a shelve in their quarters.

Technically, Pavel allowes himself to remind Hikaru, they were not only not allowed to accept presents from alien races - they were forbiden to do so!

"Regulations should be treatened as nothing more but recommendations, First Officer," Hikaru answers, causing Pavel - still, even after three months, unused to the fact that they were given their own ship to command - to grin at the title. He also realises serving on Enterprise may have affected their view of Starfleet for good.

Sulu sits down besides him onto the bed and together their watch the plant.

It is tiny and light green, but its leaves are wide and pulpy.

Pavel looks at his husband and, amused, shakes his head at his husband´s dreamy smile.

"C´mon, I´m getting jealous... _Captain Botanist_," he says, pulling Hikaru by the sleave of his gold shirt.

The other man laughs and lets himself be pulled into a hug and kissed.

The plant is forgoten for the time baing, no one pays attention to its softly shaking leaves. Despite that it seems quite content.

***

"Don´t you think there´s something strange about it?" Pavel asks, watching the plant.

It has grown considerably over the past few weeks, it is now almost half a metre high, its stem thick as human arm and the leaves are size of Chekov´s hands.

"I´ve never seen plant like this before," Hikaru admits, "but to me it seems like quite normal member of plantlife."

The Russian runs his fingers over the huge leaves lightly. They are surprising warm and he feels a pulsing motion under their surface. "As if it was alive," he mutters and Hikaru laughs.

"Of course it´s alive, Pavel," his husban hugs him from behind and buries his face into the crook of his neck. "Plant´s tend to be that way."

That´s not what I meant, Chekov thinks but aloud he says nothing.

***

The plant is now high enough to reach Pavel´s waist, dark green with a huge pinkish flower bud on the top of it. Over the top of his computer Pavel watches Hikaru repot it.

"Are you sure it was good thing to bring it abroad?" he asks.

There is something about the thing that disturbs him more then he would admit. It is not exactly that he is scared, merely uncertain what to think about it.

"As far it caused no problems," Hikaru grins, wiping his hair away from his face with his mud-covered fingers. It leaves a smear on his face and Pavel suddenly feels a strong desire to kiss him. To hold him and never let go.

***

That night Pavel is woken up by an unusual sound, something he has not heard in months.

It is an unmistekable sound of baby crying.

He sits up in the darknes, which is, however, not as dark as it should be. There is glow coming from the plant, which large bud has opened since the evening and revealed its bright pink middle. There a baby is laying between the lamellae, kicking its feet, waving its fists and crying with the force of newborn life.

Maybe due to the absurdity of the scene the first thought which occures to Pavel is that one day he will have a lot of trouble doing the flowers and bees talk with child, born from an alien plant.

He will also have to keep reasuring her, because its clearly a little girl, that even though she was unplaned and unexpected and though he was comfused by her plant, she is certainly not unwanted.

Only then does the sense come back to him and he shakes his sleeping husband awake.

The other man mumbles something uncomprehensible.

"Hikaru, I think we´re parents!" Pavel hisses, eyes still focused on the plant.

"What?" He feel the gaze of suddenly wide-open dark eyes on himself.

"We´ve got a baby! What´re we gonna do?"

Hikaru sits up abruptly. Maping the situation quickly, he shrugs and suggests: "Name her?"


End file.
